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Star Trek vs. Obama

I grew up on Star Trek. The Original Series and The Next Generation were probably the first real encounters I had with science fiction, and it set my imagination on fire to learn more about the universe. It made for great space opera and I stuck with the franchise. Sure, there were bad episodes (what show doesn’t have those?), but overall both series showed a hopeful vision of the future for humanity where we were out among the stars exploring the galaxy.

Sure, there were Marxist overtones but that did not diminish the characters or the stories when they were well written. I even loved Deep Space Nine, which took a far darker tone with Star Trek. It explored underhanded politics, getting people to work together and showing it took longer than one episode to resolve hundreds of years of hatred, even fighting in a massive war to prevent conquest by a xenophobic enemy determined to protect itself from threats by eliminating any possible resistance. War was shown as hell, but a necessary hell and they used the drama from real people in tough situations to it’s fullest… Though towards the end that series also got bad.

Still, it was gold compared to the two shows that followed: Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise. Both were truly wretched shows, filled with total nonsense, lapses in logic, bad acting, and above all else bad writing thanks to the men in charge. Both who had become so entrenched in following the bare facts of Trek’s history they ignored the substance to it. Not caring about how people saw it, they just assumed the viewers would be easily held with boobs in tight catsuits and explosions. They disrespected their audience, assumed they were simpletons, and churned out garbage without thought or reason: Their only concern was money and forcing their political views onto the audience, preaching to them just to make a quick buck.

Sounds familiar, right? But to be fair, I’m going to do some simple comparisons between the shows, and President Obama’s administration as well as the Democrats in general. I assume that if you’re still reading you’re already a huge geek, but I’m still going to keep it simple for any non-geeks left reading.

Star Trek: Star Trek originated the idea of the Prime Directive, which is basically a general order forbidding the exploitation of less-advanced civilizations, and in general to avoid first contact with them until they were ready. It was to prevent imperialism and to protect Starfleet from screwing up and killing people. In Voyager and Enterprise, on the other hand, the Prime Directive became kind of like a God: A rigid dogma that forbade Starfleet from interfering at all in the affairs of less advanced civilizations, trading their technology, or anything of that nature. Even if a civilization was threatened with extinction our “heroes” did nothing. Of course, if the civilization was being exploited then that was something Starfleet should stop, especially when a bunch of caricatured capitalists were pretending to be gods to some poor dumb civilization. And when the heroes actually did violate the Prime Directive, it was usually simply due to the fact that it was the only way to advance the episode and get the story to a conclusion, with no thought as to the ramifications.

Obama Administration: The Obama administration follows rigid liberal dogma in most of it’s policies, which are not based on reason but on simple ideology. Capitalism is bad, global warming is real, humans are evil unless under socialist policies. This is the same administration that did nothing to support Iran’s demonstrations against their tyrannical government, but happily supports revolution in other nations as long as it’s socialist-Even if the organization they’re backing is a terrorist one. It doesn’t matter how many people they kill, as long as it’s for the right cause. This issue is similar to abortion: God forbid we stop innocent babies from being killed in the womb, but some corporation developing oil and harming the Earth? That’s just not kosher! With a religious fervor they happily destroy the economy , kill children and support murderers because that all conforms to their ideology.

Star Trek: Captain Kirk was always committed to fighting injustice and evil however he could: Either by fighting his way out, talking his way out, or thinking his way out. He strove to use force only as a last resort despite how over-hyped his fighting has become in pop culture. The captains of Voyager and Enterprise, Kathryn Janeway and Jonathan Archer, too were willing to use force: But rather than try to sort out problems, they would assume the moral high ground and lecture enemies, even while their ships were under attack. Janeway became infamous for letting her ship get hammered all the while her people died, and Archer was disgusted with human cargo ship crews actually fighting back again pirates. Janeway would pontificate to no end how Starfleet virtues and rules and regulations were how to always resolve a problem rather than actually thinking about how to solve it: She’d more often use violence or streams of meaningless jargon to technobabble a solution. Archer’s Enterprise was pretty much the same way, except that Archer more often than not got his whitebread, all-American male bottom handed to him. It was suggested it was some kind of self-loathing that made him do this. Diplomacy was no better: Janeway and Archer both got rings run around them by aliens who could qualify for Special Education, and often relied on the plot to bail them out of their own messes.

Obama Administration: Well, they sure do enjoy blaming America first for everything. Coddling our enemies could be a sign of significant self-loathing, as the extreme Left is often found to do. As for spouting meaningless babble, well, there’s been fewer times in history where we’ve had to endure a president saying so much nonsense. It’s all to placate the country while doing nothing to resolve the problem, just relying on something, perhaps the jargon, to solve it for him. It’s no different than relying on the plot. True, it’s a common thing for politicians to ignore problems in the hopes they’ll go away, but it’s a little tough to ignore a massive financial crisis, unrest in the Middle East, and other things you yourself helped bring about. Seems that President Obama and his cronies also follow the Archer Approach to war: Let ourselves get the paste beat out of us for a while before doing anything about it. We deserve it, after all.

Star Trek:Stark Trek used to be about humanity growing past our differences. It was the first TV show to have a black main character who stayed with the show at Martin Luther King Jr.’s request, it had an Asian main character who became a captain, it even had a Russian character-All of whom are still cultural icons today. It didn’t stop there: Deep Space Nine had a black captain, a female first officer, a female science officer, and a doctor of Isreali descent. Voyager had a female captain lead character, a Native American first officer, and a black security chief. The problem though with the latter two shows is that they became less characters, and just pats on the back for the franchise in human form. Chakotay, for instance, the Native American first officer, was portrayed as a spouter of New Age jargon interpreted as actual Native American rites. He became little more than a representative of his race, with a character so shallow the writers swapped in traits easily given how wooden he was. We were told things about him, that was it. Enterprise was even worse: The only black character was an ensign who barely got any lines, and the only Asian character was generally characterized as a scared little girl constantly freaking out about being in space. It was less about showing that people of different races were people too and more about keeping the people in charge happy about civil rights-They were rendered mascots.

Obama Administration: Civil Rights too is simply a means to political ends in the Left today. The Black Panthers case has seen to that. President Obama ending the school vouchers and forcing black children to attend poorly run, corrupt and horrible public schools is another: As long as blacks are kept as voters and mascots for politics, that’s all that matters to this party. Nothing about letting them realize their dreams, nothing about pushing them to embrace American mainstream culture, no: They’re a resource to be exploited, nothing more.

Star Trek: The writers on Star Trek used to be actual scifi writers and among Hollywood’s best. Creating gripping stories and interesting characters, fantastic situations. Things however went downhill fast when Rick Berman and Brendan Braga were brought onboard to helm the franchise. It became a matter of simply churning out episodes, no matter how bad. When fans complained they likened them to the geek stereotypes of old: A bunch of virgins in middle age who lived in their parents’ basement. In response to declining viewership they put a hot, big-breasted woman in a skimpy catsuit aboard both ships, and characterized them as emotionless. This resulted in both shows gradually losing viewers: Enterprise started with 13 million viewers, and by the end of the first season it had been reduced by more than half. Little gimmicks were tried which increased viewership for a little while, but they had no staying power.

Obama Administration: With it’s disregard for the rule of law and ignorance of the people’s will, the Obama administration sure seems to see us, average citizens, as mere children. Throw us a few dollars or promises and we would shut up. Give an eloquent speech about a tragedy to drive up your approval ratings, just enough to hang on. The only effort put into this administration is in the flashy stuff, the things that appeal to the lowest common denominator who are too stupid to know otherwise.

Star Trek: Star Trek did sometimes preach about how humans back in the past were backwards and ignorant while reveling in their own arrogance. The best episodes though showed that despite our pride, our vanity and our flaws that underneath all the wrappings, we were still human. Still prone to making the same mistakes… But also prone to reaching to great heights, doing great things and proving ourselves worthy of going out into the universe as one species, united in peace. Voyager and Enterprise didn’t have any of that: As long as the dogma was stuck to, the characters could claim to be in the right. They brought down such mighty foes as the Borg, and such powerful god-like entities as the Q down to their level: Defeating them or preaching at them, as clearly they were always in the right. Star Trek used to teach humility, compassion, and to never give up on your dreams. Voyager and Enterprise taught that those entrenched in power were always right no matter what as long as it was the thing they said was right. The main characters are always right because the writer says so.

Obama Administration: Given the numerous instances of Obama’s arrogance, it’s not surprising it’s a sign of the Left. They still cling to their counter-culture robes, their claims to be fighting against “The Man” when it is they who have become entrenched, corrupt, inflexible, and evil. They have the power which automatically makes them in the right, but they can’t let that sit. They need enemies to focus the rage of those below them elsewhere, otherwise it would be directed against them. That’s how it is with Dogma: There’s no reasoning with it because it automatically assumes it is right. Period. Everyone else is wrong and there’s nothing you can do against it. That is the view of this administration and the leaders of the Left right now: The one in charge is always right because they say so.

Star Trek: Due to all the aforementioned approaches to the franchise, Star Trek: Enterprise was canceled after only four seasons, where the three previous series (even Voyager) hung on for seven. Berman and Braga were shoved off control of the Franchise, and J. J. Abrams was handed control instead due to his love for Star Trek and his success with shows like Lost. And he gave us the reboot of Star Trek in 2009. It wasn’t the most intellectual of movies, and there were a number of lapses in physics and plot… But the characters were treated with respect as the heroes they were supposed to be. Flawed yes, needing to learn, but when push came to shove they did the right thing and every one of them, no matter their ethnicity, got a chance to shine as real characters. It was flashy and extravagant, yes, but in celebration of the story and not just to draw in viewers. In other words, real thought and real heart went into the reboot, and it was a huge success. Star Trek is back, no longer the dying carcass, but reborn. It didn’t get that bad in one year though, and it wasn’t just because of Berman and Braga. The culture of Hollywood, the decadence of the writers, it all came to a head. But eventually, once they were out, Star Trek returned. Better than ever, though there will always be people who disagree. And that’s okay.

Obama Administration: Two years to go. A new Republican Majority in the House and only a slim Democratic majority in the Senate. More scandals being uncovered, more laws broken, the eruption of chaos in the Middle East and a media unwilling to call the President on any of it. It’s a dark time to be sure.

But, if Star Trek has taught me anything, it’s that if you put in the effort and if you’re willing to make the tough calls, there is always hope for the future. And I’ll keep that in my heart, even if no one else will.